Creativity
in the brain and new learningMy
own theory

I am also
interested in understanding how the brain generates new (creative) ideas
and how it actually learns something new. It stands to reason that creativity is a
function of the brain, and this is precisely what I am suggesting.

Unlike artificial neural
networks, where memories are stored by researchers adjusting the synaptic
links or weight connecting neurons, the brain learns by itself. I believe that the brain achieves
autonomous learning by utilizing so-called spurious memories. In neural network
systems, memories are stored in
common overlapping areas, sharing common neurons and synapses. This
is very different to the way that memories are stored in a computer where
every memory has an address and is retrieved by this address.
Memories in neural systems are retrieved by the content of the
input. A consequence of this sharing of neural hardware is that neural
systems generate their own set of 'memories'. These so-called spurious memories are comprised on combinations of
features of the stored memories. They have been observed in mathematical models and there is every reason
they should
also be present in the brain. I have suggested that this is how the
brain learns something new. These shallow states are deepened
whenever the brain learns something new. Without them the brain
would not be capable of new learning.

I have suggested that spurious
memories are the basis for our creative ideas, and why we (and other
animals) are able to adapt to an ever-changing environment. If you want to know more about this theory, you will need to buy a copy of my book "Memory and Dreams: The
Creative Human Mind". In short this is a theory of how
the brain organises itself and functions autonomously. I believe
this is the key to brain function, and how we will be able to develop real artificial
intelligence systems.

If this theory is correct,
then we can only generate ideas based on what we already know. It is
also reasonable to suggest that if we had an idea which we knew nothing
about (which I would say is not possible), we wouldn't know what it
meant.

Albert Einstein once said that
"Imagination is more important than knowledge",

I
say "But imagination is based on knowledge".

What is more is that we can only learn
something 'new' if it is already an attractor in the brain.